5 months ago
In nan past decade astatine nan forefront of US politics, Donald Trump has unleashed a barrage of unusual, misleading aliases dubious assertions astir nan ambiance crisis, which he astir famously called a “hoax”.
This twelvemonth has seen Trump ratchet up his often questionable claims astir nan situation and really to deal, if astatine all, pinch nan threats to it. In a twelvemonth littered pinch lies and chaotic declarations, these are nan 5 that stood retired arsenic nan astir startling.
1. Putting group complete fish
A delta smelt astatine nan University of California Davis food conservation and civilization laboratory successful Byron, California, connected 15 July 2015. Photograph: Rich Pedroncelli/AP
Upon re-entering nan White House successful January, Trump revealed an different fixation would go an contiguous privilege for his management – nan destiny of an endangered, three-inch-long food that lives successful California.
The unassuming delta smelt, Trump said alternatively uncharitably, is “an fundamentally worthless fish” which had been lavished pinch h2o flows that should alternatively spell to adjacent farmers aliases thief conflict nan devastating wildfires that were raging hundreds of miles southbound successful Los Angeles.
On his first time successful office, Trump issued an eye-catching executive order titled “Putting group complete fish” that demanded h2o beryllium diverted from nan smelt’s residence and towards needy people.
Experts were speedy to point out that h2o situated truthful acold distant would not assistance nan firefighting effort successful LA, pinch nan mini magnitude of h2o provided to support nan Sacramento-San Joaquin delta ecosystem intact overshadowed by nan overmuch larger forces astatine play successful California, specified arsenic nan ambiance crisis, which has spurred monumental droughts successful nan region.
2. Wind power is 'driving nan whales crazy'
Offshore upwind turbines guidelines disconnected nan seashore of Virginia Beach, Virginia, connected 29 June 2020. Photograph: Steve Helber/AP
Continuing connected nan aquatic theme, Trump’s first period successful nan astir powerful agency connected nan satellite besides included a bizarre tirade against offshore upwind power for its expected effect upon whales.
The president said that “windmills” were “dangerous”, citing nan illustration of whales being washed ashore successful Massachusetts arsenic impervious that “the windmills are driving nan whales crazy, obviously”.
While location were a spate of dormant and sick whales becoming stranded ashore, Trump’s ain national authorities scientists person rejected nan thought that upwind turbines placed successful nan water are to blame.
“At this point, location is nary technological grounds that sound resulting from offshore upwind tract characterization surveys could perchance origin whale deaths,” nan National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration states. “There are nary known links betwixt ample whale deaths and ongoing offshore upwind activities.”
The main threats to whales proceed to beryllium entanglement successful sportfishing nets, vessel strikes and altered prey behaviour owed to a quickly heating water from nan ambiance crisis, which is causing whales to person to forage person to land, experts say.
This hasn’t deterred Trump from enacting a long-held grudge against upwind power by halting planned projects and stating that “we don’t let nan windmills and we don’t want nan star panels” in August. The president has besides claimed that upwind is “the astir costly power location is” – a mendacious claim, upwind and star are, successful fact, among nan cheapest sources of powerfulness that person ever existed.
3. Clean, beautiful coal
Donald Trump departs aft speaking astatine nan UN wide assembly successful New York connected 23 September 2025. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
In September, Trump delivered a remarkable, often fact-free speech to nan United Nations, successful which he said that ambiance alteration is nan “greatest con occupation ever perpetrated connected nan world”, blaming “stupid people” for predictions that person hobbled countries pinch a costly “green scam”.
But possibly nan astir different revelation successful nan reside was Trump outlining really he has sought to straight rebrand ember arsenic a cleanable powerfulness source. “I person a small opinionated bid successful nan White House,” he said. “Never usage nan connection ‘coal’. Only usage nan words ‘clean, beautiful coal’. Sounds overmuch better, doesn’t it?”
Coal is, successful fact, acold from clean. It is nan dirtiest of each fossil fuels successful position of nan c it emits erstwhile burned, which past heats up nan planet, and it besides gives disconnected aerial pollutants that routinely harm nan bosom and lung wellness of those who unrecorded adjacent ember powerfulness plants.
Black lung disease, meanwhile, is an affliction galore coalminers person suffered aft straight inhaling ember particulate (the Trump management axed a programme that screened coalminers for nan respiratory condition).
The national authorities crossed different administrations has lavished backing upon plans to instal c seizure accommodation astatine ember plants, to extremity harmful emissions from escaping, but this has yet to beryllium implemented successful immoderate meaningful measurement successful nan US.
4. Global cooling
A motion connected Highway 101 displays a informing astir utmost power successful Corte Madera, California, connected 2 July 2024. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
In nan aforesaid reside to beleaguered-looking diplomats astatine nan UN, Trump scoffed astatine nan technological reality of world heating, alternatively claiming that scientists had conscionable changed their minds from nan satellite cooling down.
“It utilized to beryllium world cooling,” he said. “If you look backmost years agone successful nan 1920s and nan 1930s, they said, world cooling will termination nan world. We person to do something. Then they said world warming will termination nan world. But past it started getting cooler.”
The world is not cooling down – it is heating up astatine nan fastest complaint successful nan history of humanity, owed to nan burning of fossil fuels and, to a lesser extent, deforestation. Scientists are unequivocal astir this, arsenic tin anyone who tin grasp a elemental temperature graph.
In nan 1920s and 1930s, nan section of ambiance subject wasn’t arsenic developed arsenic it is now but moreover by past location was an understanding of nan greenhouse effect and fewer scientists successful nan decades since person expressed concerns astir “global cooling” compared pinch those informing of planetary heating.
The Earth is thought to person been successful a long, gentle cooling pattern for thousands of years owed to earthy forces but this was upended by nan business revolution, pinch nan immense amounts of heat-trapping gases emitted successful nan past 150 years mounting america connected a wholly caller and vulnerable path. The world is now hotter than astatine immoderate erstwhile point successful quality civilization.
5. Climate alteration investigations
Donald Trump during nan US-Saudi finance forum successful Washington DC connected 19 November 2025. Photograph: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Last month, Trump announced caller investigations related to nan ambiance crisis. Not to find much astir nan severity of world heating and its implications, arsenic specified – much to target those who person told nan world astir it.
“It’s a small conspiracy retired there,” nan president said astatine a US-Saudi finance forum successful Washington. “We person to analyse them immediately. They astir apt are being investigated.”
It’s unclear who “they” are – scientists, Democratic politicians, nan security companies pulling retired of states because of nan crushing costs of climate-driven disasters? – but Trump pushed on.
“Their policies punish success, rewarded nonaccomplishment and produced disaster, including nan worst ostentation successful our country’s history,” he said.
While nan Trump management has fired scientists, hauled down mentions of nan ambiance situation from authorities websites and banned national labor from uttering verboten words specified arsenic “emissions” and “green”, nan reality remains that nan world is warming up and past projections of this person been mostly accurate.
Some of nan astir meticulous forecasts of world heating came from nan fossil substance industry, which knew of nan dangers from nan 1950s onwards and produced strikingly meticulous projections of early power successful nan 1970s.
Instead of informing nan world of this peril, however, lipid and state companies alternatively group astir a decades-long run to downplay and distort this science successful bid to support their lofty position successful nan world economy.
Trump has not called for an investigation of these companies, choosing alternatively to openly solicit run donations from them successful return for rollbacks of cleanable aerial protections erstwhile he became president – a committedness he has mostly fulfilled.
